Excellent vehicle servicing in Reading
6 min readLocal auto service Reading, UK today: Spending five minutes carrying out these simple checks every few weeks – and certainly before a long journey or an MOT – can save you a lot of time and money in the long run, not to mention help keep you safe on the roads. To keep things simple, here are 12 simple car checks you can carry out today to keep your car safely on the road and on the right side of the law. When it comes to preventing a breakdown, remember the acronym FORCES, which stands for Fuel, Oil, Rubber, Coolant, Electrics, Screen wash. Check you have plenty of fuel in your tank for your journey. It may sound obvious but you’d be surprised just how many people run out of fuel, particularly in harsh winter weather. Worried about running out? Here’s our guide to saving fuel. Discover extra info on Car Servicing Near Me.
How Do I Know If My Car’s Battery Is Dead? A dead battery can put a damper on any day, especially when you’re running late for work. But how do you know if it’s really your battery that’s causing the issue? Look out for signs such as dim headlights or difficulty starting your car. If your car has been standing idle for a while, it’s best to get the battery checked as part of your vehicle service. Our team at carservice-centre.co.uk can test and replace your battery if necessary, ensuring you’re not left stranded when you need your car the most.
The air you breathe inside your car is important, which is why experts recommend you change the air filter every 12 months or 12,000 miles. Changing the air filter is something you can get done when you take your car for an oil change or a routine check. However, if you’re skilled with cars, you can change it yourself. A typical air filter costs about $10, and it takes 10 minutes to change.
Is the technician trained on your specific vehicle make? Cars and trucks today are extremely complex machines, and their unique characteristics vary heavily from brand to brand. Making certain that your technician has obtained the proper training for your specific vehicle is crucial since special tools and procedures — many of which are not easily available to the “average” auto mechanic — are required to correctly service your auto.
Top local auto service in Reading: This makes them impartial when inspecting your car – there’s no commercial incentive to find problems with it. For a list of local council MOT test centres that don’t carry our repairs, visit the website. Once a car is three years old (four years in Northern Ireland) it must be tested each year to check it meets road safety and environmental standards. This Ministry of Transport test is commonly known as an ‘MOT’. MOT tests are carried out at around 21,000 authorised test centres around the country, all of which display an official blue sign featuring three white triangles. Discover additional info at http://carservice-centre.co.uk/.
You can get a quote online by using our quote engine widget for every vehicle make and model by simply entering your vehicle registration number to make a booking and you do not pay car service centre reading until the work has been carried out to your liking and you are happy with the work that has been carried out. On collecting your vehicle all the work that has been carried out will be explained to you and our technician will run this through with you before driving away in your vehicle. Clean the engine : Use clean fuel to make the engine clean and strong from inside. From time to time it should also be cleaned externally. Leakage along with dust and debris can damage the engine so use any engine cleaner to wipe off the dirt.
If you’re worried about Oil Change Sevice Tilehurst or any of these things, just remember that without periodic service, you’re putting the continued reliability of your car’s performance at risk. The old saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and that is true to some extent, but if you do hear the odd whirr, thud or bump while driving, it’s best to drop your car in for a service. You never know, that tiny niggle may just grow to be a major and very expensive inconvenience in the very near future. If time is a constraint, contact your local service centre or dealer and ask how long it would take if it’s just a periodic service.
As well as using the correct lettering style and spacing, your number plates need to be clean and easy to read from a distance. Modified number plates, damaged number plates or otherwise illegal plates will fail the MoT. If you own a diesel car fitted with a diesel particulate filter (DPF), it could be given a Major defect and automatically fail the MoT test if it emits “visible smoke of any colour” during metered checks. Testers will also inspect DPFs closely for signs of removal or tampering, awarding a Major defect and failing the car if foul play is detected. Testers must refuse to test any car where the “DPF canister has clearly been cut open and re-welded” unless the owner “can show evidence that there was a valid reason to cut it open, such as for filter cleaning.”
Checking the tires before hitting the road is always a good practice. And this practice can prove to be helpful during the summer months too. Visually inspect if your tire threads are showing signs of wear or not. It is dangerous to drive with worn tires as those can lead to uneven handling of your car both during driving and while using the brake. And they may also blow out if not replaced timely. Next, it’s time to examine tire pressure. Depending on the build and type of your tire, the pressure should be between 30 and 35 PSI. Make sure that the tires are not over or under-inflated, as those may lead to a flat tire on hot days. Don’t forget to do the same with the spare tire as well. Do check out these top tips on how to inspect your tires before getting started.
Antifreeze, as its name suggests, stops the water in the engine’s cooling system from freezing. To test the effectiveness of your antifreeze, an antifreeze tester can be brought from your local car spares shop. To use it, unscrew the coolant reservoir cap under the bonnet (ensuring the engine is cold first), lower the tube into the coolant and squeeze the rubber bulb on the end to suck some antifreeze inside the tester. You can then read the freezing point of the antifreeze using the scale inside the tester. Replace the antifreeze in the car’s system and replace the cap.
It’s important to check your engine coolant level regularly and replace it when needed. Doing so will keep your engine running smoothly and help prevent costly repairs down the line. Some manufacturers recommend replacing spark plugs every 30,000 miles, but keep in mind there are other recommendations depending on the engine type or manufacturer, so refer to the service literature for you own vehicle. If your car is struggling to start or vibrates a lot, you may need new spark plugs sooner. Remove the HT leads first before unscrewing the plugs themselves, making sure you clean the area thoroughly. Place the new plugs in the socket and lower into the gap, before tightening up by hand at first followed by a torque wrench to the correct setting.